Denmark Proposes Stricter Deportation Laws Amid Human Rights Concerns

Denmark's Proposed Changes to Deportation Laws

By Stine Jacobsen and Soren Jeppesen

Government's Stance on Human Rights

COPENHAGEN, Jan 30 (Reuters) - Denmark said on Friday it would introduce legislation allowing the expulsion of more foreigners including criminals despite the risk of clashing with Europe's human rights court.

Impact of Nationalist Parties

In a global hardening of attitudes on asylum and migration issues, various European governments including Denmark have expressed frustration with how the Strasbourg-based European Court of Human Rights has often blocked deportations.

Details of the Proposed Reforms

Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said on Friday her centre-right coalition government would act without waiting for the court to revise its interpretation of the European Convention on Human Rights as relates to immigration. 

"Some experts might think that we are breaking the convention with this. We see it the other way around," she said at a press conference. 

Frederiksen is under pressure from nationalist and anti-immigration parties who are gaining support ahead of an election due by October 31. 

"It is because a majority of the countries behind the (rights) convention share Denmark's desire to change the interpretation that we are now tightening further," the prime minister added, acknowledging that could bring legal challenges.

Denmark has in particular criticized rulings by the European court stopping deportations due to family ties. 

EXPULSIONS, TAGGING, ENVOY PLANNED  

The proposed reforms, to take effect from May 1 if approved, would increase requirements to deport foreign nationals sentenced to a year or more for serious crimes. 

Other plans include introducing electronic tagging for people without residency permits who breach reporting requirements, reopening Denmark's embassy in Syria - the source of many migrants - and appointing a deportation envoy. 

Copenhagen also plans to explore a potential first EU reception centre outside the bloc and intensify reviews to revoke refugee permits.

Frederiksen's government has seen a poll boost for its handling of a standoff over U.S. President Donald Trump´s demands to acquire Greenland but its ratings remain below those of the 2022 election.

Frederiksen, of the Social Democratic Party, took a tougher stance on immigration when she became prime minister in 2019, with coalition partners Moderates and the Liberal Party following her lead. 

With a population of around 6 million, Denmark granted asylum to 839 people in the first 11 months of 2025, on track to approve fewer than 1,000 claims in the year for only the fourth time since 1983. Most asylum applicants in recent years have come from Syria, Afghanistan, Eritrea, and Somalia.    

(Reporting by Stine Jacobsen and Soren Jeppesen; editing by Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen and Andrew Cawthorne)